Scientists force computer to binge on TV shows and predict what humans will do

Scientists force computer to binge on TV shows and predict what humans will do

An AI program analyzed this video frame and predicted that these two characters from “The Big Bang Theory” (played by Sara Rue and Johnny Galecki) would kiss each other. Spoiler alert: They did. (Credit: Vondrick et al. / MIT) Researchers have taught a computer to do a better-than-expected job of predicting what characters on TV shows will do, just by forcing the machine to study 600 hours’ worth of YouTube videos.The experiment could serve as a commentary on the state of research into artificial intelligence, or on the predictability of sitcom plots. It also calls to mind the scenes from countless science-fiction movies where the alien gets up to speed on human culture just by watching TV. MIT’s Carl Vondrick and his colleagues are due to present the results of their experiment next…